Executive order allows taxpayers to make partial property tax payments

Gov. Andrew Cuomo directs State Department of Taxation and Finance to work with localities to facilitate early tax collection

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has an emergency Executive Order to help protect property owners in New York from the impact of the recently passed federal tax bill. This order authorizes local governments to immediately issue tax warrants for the collection of 2018 property tax payments and allows property owners to pay at least a portion of their bill before the end of the year and under the current tax construct. Cuomo directed the state Department of Taxation and Finance to work with local governments to facilitate early tax collection.

The federal tax plan, already signed into law, caps the deductibility of state and local taxes at $10,000, effectively raising property taxes and reducing home values in New York and in states across the country.

“As Washington wages an all-out assault on this state and this nation, I have authorized local governments to allow property owners to pay part or all of their taxes early,”said Cuomo. “New York has made unprecedented progress reducing the burden of taxes on our middle-class families, and we will not allow this attack to roll back all that we have achieved. This Executive Order will allow property owners to deduct either part or the full amount of their payment from their federal taxes before the GOP tax bill goes into effect.”

Cuomo authorized local governments to immediately issue warrants to levy property taxes by the end of the year. Officials should issue warrants for the collection of taxes and deliver them to the local tax collector immediately, and no later than 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017.

This will allow New Yorkers to pay their property taxes for 2018 in the 2017 calendar year and allow localities to accept advance payment so that property owners can deduct the full amount of their payment at the federal level.

Allows Taxpayers to Make Partial Payments Early

The Executive Order will also suspend local laws limiting the ability of taxpayers to make partial payment of property taxes until the end of the year. Since many taxpayers do not yet know the exact amount of their bill, this will allow for a portion of taxes to be paid early and under the current federal tax law.

Each local tax collector is now authorized and directed to accept partial payments of warranted taxes from property owners until the close of business on Friday, Dec. 29, 2017. Online payments can be made until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, December 31, 2017, and payments made by mail that are postmarked on or before Dec. 31, 2017 are also authorized.

“For those local government and school districts able to issue their warrants before the end of the year, we encourage them to do so,” said New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica. “We understand that for some, it would not be feasible nor practical.”

The Executive Order requires that the municipality’s Receiver of Taxes receive the warrant (authorization to collect a tax) from each taxing authority, including the County of Albany for the 2018 property tax and each school district for the 2018-19 school taxes. In cases where the Receiver of Taxes has not received such a warrant (such as the school districts in the towns of Bethlehem and Guilderland), they will not be able to accept early payment.

“As the capping of the SALT deduction has become a painful reality for New York, our city and village leaders have been doing all they can legally to allow full or partial prepayment of 2018 property taxes in 2017,” said New York State Conference of Mayors Executive Director Peter A. Baynes on Friday, Dec. 22. “Fortunately, today’s decisive action by Governor Cuomo will assist our members as they help their residents deal with the negative financial impacts federal tax reform will have on millions of New Yorkers.”

“We greatly appreciate the Governor’s action which expands the Town’s ability to help residents partially mitigate the negative impacts of the Federal tax legislation,” said Guilderland Town Supervisor Peter Barber. “If interested in this option, we urge residents to take advantage of the convenience of online and mailing options.”

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